Subjects and verbs are at work in almost every statement you make, and you make them agree effortlessly most of the time. Look, for instance, at three sentences taken from a recent broadcast of a baseball game.
The pitcher powers another blistering curveball over the plate.
The Yanks move on to Milwaukee tomorrow.
The duel of the no-hitters continues into the eighth.
Take time to listen to someone reporting an event—a play-by-play announcer, perhaps, or an on-the-scene reporter. Note some of the subject-verb combinations. Do you find any that don’t sound right, that might not agree?
Editing for Subject-Verb Agreement
Editing for Subject-Verb Agreement
- Identify the subject that goes with each verb. Cover up any words between the subject and the verb to identify agreement problems more easily. (33b)
- Check compound subjects. Those joined by and usually take a plural verb. With those subjects joined by or or nor, however, the verb agrees with the part of the subject closer or closest to the verb. (33c)
- Check collective-noun subjects. These nouns take a singular verb when they refer to a group as a single unit, but they take a plural verb when they refer to the multiple members of a group. (33d)
- Check indefinite-pronoun subjects. Most take a singular verb. Both, few, many, others, and several take a plural verb, and all, any, enough, more, most, none, and some can be either singular or plural. (33e)